Studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders represent the second most important health-related costs in almost all industrialized countries, close behind cardiovascular diseases, and ahead of cancer and neurological diseases. By musculoskeletal disorders, it is intended to refer to disease of cartilage, bone, muscle, ligaments and tendons. With the current progressive increase in life expectancy, musculoskeletal problems have become more prevalent in the population, resulting in an increase in the number of available pharmacological treatments and therapeutic devices. With the emergence of new treatment modalities came the development new instruments for the detection, evaluation and monitoring of knee joint injuries and pathologies.
The knee is an extremely complex joint necessitating a perfectly coupled three-dimensional range of movement for proper function. Knee joint functions are thus better evaluated via analysis of their three-dimensional components, using a quantified functional approach reflective of movements of bones of the knee joint in one of the three-dimensional planes.
Current methods involve the use of radiological examinations (such as X-rays, MRI, CT-Scans). Such exams however typically remain limited in terms of their capacity to evaluate various functional aspects of the knee joint, and typically cannot be performed while the knee joint is moving (i.e. they are static in nature).
Other existing methods used to evaluate knee joints function typically involve static imaging combined with manual testing (ligament laxity). Since these tests rely on manual testing and patient compliance, they are tainted by a certain amount of subjectivity.
Some existing methods permit the quantification of anteroposterior movement of the tibia with respect to the femur (such as the KT-1000). These methods however do not permit precise and reliable evaluation of the knee joint as they are typically limited to performing a static evaluation of a translation movement. Such methods are typically not suitable for performing an evolution as a movement is being performed by the knee joint.
There is therefore a need for an improved apparatus and method for evaluating knee joint function and disorders or pathologies, which addresses shortcomings associated with the prior art, or at least provides a useful alternative.